Forever Fierce Day! Join the Revolution.

“Midlife isn’t an age but rather an experience. It’s a time in a woman’s life when she begins to see herself in a powerful new light while the world sees her as not relevant. Midlife has never been so cool or empowered!“– CatherineGraceO

What does it mean to be FIERCE at Midlife?

Exactly one year ago today, the Midlife Revolution began with an organic, grassroots campaign called The Fierce 50. Since that time, we’ve been humbled by the response and the evolution of a movement to disrupt the perception of women at midlife and beyond.

In response to the demand from Gen Xers and women of all ages to join, we have rebranded the name to a more inclusive, Forever Fierce, but the original intention remains unchanged: to place a fresh, vibrant and empowered frame around women who have reached the inflection point called Midlife. With that intention in mind, we are introducing a new twist this year. We have chosen an exclusive and intimate group of Bloggers, not based upon the typical metrics but rather the only metric that truly matters: a beautiful and compassionate heart. With our firm dedication to inclusivity and removing all boundaries in our community, the 50 Bloggers involved have offered to serve the Midlife community at large by using their platforms to share other women’s voices. We are delighted to introduce you to a group of inspiring women who we find to be powerful Influencers in their own right across a spectrum on social media. We believe that a blog is simply a means of creative self-expression and the Bloggers couldn’t be more excited to utilize our platforms to share the powerful voices of these special women.

We invite you to read their personal insights by answering the question: “What does it mean to be FIERCE at Midlife?” Get ready as these MidlifeBoss Babes will surprise you with their profound collective wisdom through their colorful and diverse life experience. The wisdom garnered through life experience is the one our culture cannot purchase and must be earned.

My personal “Mid-Life Fierce” includes being happy, enthusiastic, grateful, & improving my version of “me” just a little every day. Keeping priorities in order is a must and while I’m far, far from perfect- God, family & friends are the connections I hold closest to my heart. My Instagram account, @Midlifestyletips has opened a whole new world of fun, whimsy & engagement with women from all over the world who are similar in interests, passions & life-cycle stages (& some older & younger too!). It’s been a pleasure and a joy to interact with such brilliant & amazing Mid-Life-Fierce women!

At midlife, we have great wisdom at our back. Now being fierce means accepting that when you stand up for what you believe in you may lose the battle but you will win the war, so be prepared to keep fighting. Understanding that the best moments and relationships come when you open yourself up to a new dream or allow yourself to have candid conversations with people addressing an issue, telling people how they matter to you, raising your hand to volunteer). And that building and maintaining a strong resilience “muscle” is the key to moving through life fiercely.

Fierce at Midlife is when you are challenged in your health every day. Fighting Lyme Disease and co-infections is not for cowards! You have to embrace the new normal and make a decision every day that you’re not going to let symptoms in your body, nor the opinions of others change who you really are. At my age I choose my friends wisely but I choose to love everyone even though they’re different than me or have different beliefs or opinions. I’m free! I don’t have to pretend to be something I’m not to be liked by others. I don’t have to fit in a box. I choose each day to be, happy and enjoy the little things. I wear what I want and I’m comfortable in my own skin. God loves me and I love Him. He has given me a beautiful family, the best parents, husband, children, and gorgeous grandchildren! I love life and want to live it to the fullest each day. To all of you Fierce Women … keep being strong and an example to the generation that’s coming after us.

I believe ferocity in midlife is grounded in acceptance and subsequent action. It’s the ability to abolish the fallacy of “arrival” – this idea of success as a destination and the subsequent impression of failure if we end up off-course due to circumstances. At age 18, I was stalked and stabbed, leading me to silence my voice and discard my dreams. The trauma resulted in further abuse and violation. Alas, these challenges took their toll: Breast cancer at 43 as a single mother to a three-year-old, succumbing to welfare and disability. Thyroid cancer and a blood clot in my jugular followed. I’m clothed in scars and poetic maps of travels taken…detours…as well as the creation of new roads where there were none. To be Forever Fierce is to face the disappointments, challenges, losses, and sorrows as improvisation. Today I speak on a new platform for myself and for others: Alive at the Improv with Michelle. This is my journey, and I’ll continue on.

What does it mean to be FIERCE at midlife? We are dramatically different today than we were in our 20’s, 30’s, or even 40’s. I often hear the words re-invention and re-awakening. I liken it to a re-birth! Not long ago women in midlife were content to slow down and accept the life they had. But no more. We are just starting out. We are just understanding who we are. With that understanding comes a desire to be active, vibrant and relevant. We want to change our lives and our world for the better. We are starting new careers and new businesses. We now have the confidence and the wisdom that comes with age. It’s our time to share our voices even when the world around us does not take us seriously. Because we are Fierce, we will be heard. Because we are Fierce, we will change perceptions.

After the loss of my husband and youngest son, I found my fearless inner self and learned that I was more than a wife and mother! With the help of my eldest son, I discovered that I was a Fierce warrior at heart with a lot left to offer. I turned to my love of fashion where I began participating in style challenges where I was able to connect with women who had also suffered tremendous losses and that I was not alone! Now as the host my own style challenge, my hope is to tell my story and empower other women to do the best they can each and every day! We are all relevant and beautiful in our own way! We can all make a difference by lifting each other up! Midlife is just the beginning!

While I witnessed fierceness in my single mother at a young age, it wasn’t until Midlife that I discovered my own fierceness. Major challenges rocked my world. My choice was fight or flight. I chose to fight and hope. I had 2 children who needed me, and a husband battling depression for the first time in his life. He was our rock and suddenly it was left up to me. Don’t get me wrong, I had been managing everything, but this time was different, more emotional in all of our lives, and I had to rise up and find my inner strength to carry us through. My true fierce self-emerged and as a result, I have made sure to have a network of supportive women around me. I’m fiercely loyal and passionate about connecting and supporting women and their endeavors. Serving others from my heart is what drives my fierceness and passion!

Being fierce at midlife means finally feeling at ease and confident in my own, ever-changing skin. Being fierce means using boundaries because I (finally) love myself enough to demand healthy relationships. Being fierce means being a strong mother and raising fierce children who will fall in love with themselves. Being fierce means wearing what I love and wearing it undeniably well, facing challenges with grace and fight, speaking my mind, and doing all things with kindness. Being fierce means knowing when to be tough and when to be tender…with others and myself. Being fierce means falling in love with my husband every day. It means facing forward, head high, and breathing in the new air of fresh midlife, knowing that I am finally, deservedly strong, confident, loved, cherished, bold, and beautiful. Meet me on my blog where I encourage women to live out loud & rewrite their stories!

As a spiritual formation professor, I have spent a lot of time thinking about worthiness. Feeling unworthy can be a huge impediment to successfully living a productive and spiritual life. As I’ve studied this topic, I have come to believe that worthiness is at the bottom of success in our relationships, in our ability for self-care, and even in pursuing our passions. Now, we all know that worthiness is a complicated topic. But, it’s also an important one at mid-life, especially when society gives us every message otherwise. To counter this, we must pursue every physical, psychological and spiritual path we can to help us feel worthy. We need to fight against critics who sabotage our sense of self, whether they be internal or external. Finally, we need to claim our worthiness in all its dimensions. Because, to me, being fierce at mid-life means knowing I’m worthy.

Fierce living is fun! It’s a choice, to be unapologetically true to my heart, vision and highest values. It’s knowing that absolutely everything in my life is happening FOR me, taking 100% responsibility for the way I am creating my life, making exceptional self-care a top priority and finding joy in every step of the wild journey. Sometimes I wish it wouldn’t have taken me so long to learn some of the powerful lessons that have brought me to this place of confidence and freedom, but in reality, there was no other possible way to get to this exact place without growing through them. Fierce living is letting go of expectations and self-judgments, practicing radical forgiveness and gratitude and not letting fear be a distraction. I’ve found immense freedom in learning to give great love to myself, delighting in the light while understanding the dark and trusting my intuition to guide my choices.

Please visit The Forever Fierce Campaign 2018 to read more about all the women featured in this year’s campaign. We invite you to join in our social media campaign by sharing your voice by answering “What does it mean to be Fierce…at any age? The inspirational bloggers featured on the Campaign page reflect the values of The Forever Fierce Community. This year, unlike prior campaigns, the selected bloggers are here to serve Midlife women who have not yet begun a blog but are social media influencers in their own way. We love disrupting everything including our own blogger campaigns! Our supportive and vibrantly engaged community is centered around the core values of respect, collaboration, and kindness. We have intentionally worked to create a space where women feel safe when sharing their most vulnerable and inspirational stories.

We know that every woman has a desire to be seen and heard…including YOU! We hope you will share your voice in our social media campaign and use the hashtags #ForeverFierce and #ForeverFierceDay. We are deeply grateful to the many courageous and empowered women we are hosting and honoring in our Forever Fierce Campaign 2018. This dedicated group of bloggers are actively serving and supporting the who have been selected the Forever Fierce Community day in and day out, spreading cheer and uplifting women with their kindness and compassion. Truth be told, that’s the only thing that matters in life…a beautiful heart…and these kick ass Midlifers have that in spades! We are grateful to these Midlife women for sharing their voices by answering the question: What does it mean to be FIERCE at Midlife?

Catherine Grace O'Connell

So kind as I am always humbled by you. Thank you so much for being a part of the journey and I love hearing the various generations and their perspectives on the meaning of “fierce.” And fiercely beautiful you are!

Catherine,
I have enjoyed being a part of this amazing community and group of women. It is very important to me as I truly appreciate the support and uplifting nature of the group. i am getting to know members and enjoy learning about others who join in. You are a wonderful inspiration ! i enjoyed reading your post and getting to know these fierce ladies.
Have a great week!
jess xxhttp://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com

Thank you, Catherine, for your leadership and inspiration. You amaze me with your foresight and ability to make all of this come together. I’m grateful and honored to be part of this campaign! Loved learning more about these ladies.